Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce The Big Apple, a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.

"Friendship” is the motto of Texas, so it’s no suprise that Texas towns are friendly. Amarillo called itself “the friendly city” in the 1930s, when it was entertaining cattlemen. The Amarillo nickname has been in disuse since the 1960s.

19 February 1935, Amarillo Globe, pg. 12, col. 3:
During the past 18 years that the Panhandle Livestock Association has met for conventions, Amarillo has carried a reputation of being a friendly city, ready to throw down the gates to the visitors.

14 July 1937, Amarillo Globe, pg. 6, col. 1:
Amarillo is in the heart of the cattle country—a country known for its friendly attitude. Every year when hundreds of persons who come here for conventions go home they remark what a friendly city we have.

Amarillo is a friendly city. Especially to its guests.
(...)
Extend your friendship. Don’t just stop with knowing your neighbors. It would be well even to know the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker by their names. Everyone with whom you come into contact daily or weekly, you should know, however slight that acquaintance might be. If your list of names was increased by 18 or 20 and if everyone did the same thing, then Amarillo truly would be a friendly city.

7 March 1938, Amarillo (TX) Globe, pg. 5 ad:
WELCOME TO AMARILLO
With true friendship and the spirit of the West we give you this message. Throughout the years Amarillo has been known as the “Friendly City” and it is our wish to do our part to keep it for the years to come, true to that name.

2 February 1945, Amarillo (TX) Globe, “Soldier on the Plains Eulogizes the Tree,” pg. 4, col. 2:
Besides the comment of the tree lover, other comments range from “Amarillo, the Friendly City” to “2,200 Miles From Home,” and “I love letters best.”